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"patience photos"

It's cold, snow is on the ground and there is still February "to get through".

Recently, there was a thread where patience was discussed. I took the time to go back into older entries in the training journal to select photos of dogs being patient. I had forgotten all about some of these...so it was fun doing a search.

There are many different presentations that require "waiting". It is one of those skills that must be regularly maintained (to remain an expectation).

Actually, I never used a stake out when I had just two. Daisy was whelped in 2005 and the "chain gang" idea with three dogs began in 2006. Two years later, Gunny made it a foursome. Both were about eleven months old when they were first "linked".

That morning was unique. This video was taken at Bong Recreational Area in Wisconsin in the north corner of the Gravel Pond. It's about an hour away from home. On the way there is a game farm where I stopped and picked up four flyer mallards. Gunny had already been entered in his first Senior test.

Since I train alone most of the time, the plan was to setup two wingers, plant a blind, place Gunny at the line and walk down the pond to the flyer station. The video camera was on a tripod and positioned to capture the session. It was one of those trainng days that came off as planned (even better). They don't always do that.

When I shot the flyer it flopped around a lot. I was worried somewhat about Gunny remaining steady as I returned to the line. He showed me his preparation was just what was expected. The setup was really way too tight with the marks, diversion, flyer and blind all in the same narrow angle which translated to something much more challenging in terms of a Senior test. This was done for two reasons. The first was to challenge him so that a Senior test would be underwhelming and the second (more obvious) was the camera angle was limited.

As it turned out, this is one of my favorite videos. Gunny is my youngest Lab. He has benefited from all the experience the others have given me. I'm fairly certain that when they were ready for their first Senior this would have been a much more difficult setup for them...........in terms of patience.

Taking a video of a session tends to provide extra insight. I know I think more about what and why I'm doing things in the moment. The reason is I become somewhat of a judge afterwards. I just feel more focused when it is being filmed. In hindsight (actually while running) it was obvious that the tight angles greatly increased suction, but we worked through it which was a testament to his responsiveness.

It is difficult to be critical when you can't remember exactly what happened, but the camera doesn't lie.